“We’ve been looking closely at the advances in digital printing technology for some time,” says one of the company’s co-directors Jon Doidge, pictured right. “But until now we hadn’t seen a platform that we felt offered quality at a level that justified the cost of investment. That’s all changed with the J Press 720S, which we think is about to blow away its closest competitors.”

A visit to drupa 2016 opened the eyes of the Kingfisher team to the machine’s capabilities. “We went to drupa with no fixed plan to buy any specific kit,” explains Doidge’s business partner, and company founder, Paul Tomlin, pictured below, left. “While there, in looking at all of our options, we decided that we had three choices as to how to proceed: we could buy nothing and continue as we were, running the risk that our competitors would start to leave us behind; we could invest in a new litho press, which would offer us a slight improvement in speed and quality; or we could invest in a J Press 720S and open up a whole new revenue stream. When we looked at it like that, it wasn’t a difficult decision.”

“We have multiple small accounts who currently don’t even ask us to quote on much of their short run work,” Doidge adds. “Until now we just haven’t had the capability to compete for short run, high quality work – and given current trends this sort of work is going to become an increasingly large part of the overall marketplace. Run lengths will keep coming down as people don’t want their money tied up in stock and they like the flexibility of being able to make modifications and amends between runs. Then there’s the benefit of personalization – another major string to our bow that the J Press will provide. It’s not just an extra piece of kit, it’s a gateway to a whole new revenue stream for us, both with existing customers and new ones. We’ll send a lot of our short-run litho work there – freeing up space to do more, longer runs on those presses – and at the same time we’ll be able to pitch for new customers we couldn’t have approached in the past. We’ve mentioned the investment to many of our existing customers already and they’re as excited as we are!”

Says Keith Dalton, Managing Director of Fujifilm Graphic Systems UK: “We’ve been thoroughly impressed with the forward-thinking approach that Kingfisher Press is pursuing with this investment. Too many printers are missing out on the opportunity to revolutionize their businesses and enter new markets. Fujifilm has proven that it has the technology and the market knowledge to help them to do this, and we will soon be announcing a not-to-be-missed opportunity for UK businesses to see the J Press 720S running live demonstrations.”

Kingfisher’s J Press purchase – made at drupa – was followed by extensive building work at its premises in order to be able to accommodate the new machine. The installation will begin at the end of February, as soon as building works are complete.

“Fujifilm has been fantastic through the whole process,” says Tomlin. “We’ve been customers of theirs for 15 years now with XMF workflow and CTP systems and their service has always been excellent. We’re delighted that we’re now inkjet partners of theirs as well.”

Dalton concludes: “We’re delighted to see yet another J Press 720S installation in the UK, adding to nearly 100 now around the world and offering further evidence that, in a challenging marketplace, the J Press 720S offers commercial printers an unrivaled means of future-proofing their business and securing new revenue streams.”

By Fujifilm|February 27th, 2017|Categories: News & Events|Comments Off on Fujifilm J Press 720S Momentum Continues to Build with Another United Kingdom Installation